1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a vehicular communications system. More particularly, a vehicular wireless communications system is provided for transmitting/receiving information between other vehicles and/or other communications systems, including the Internet.
2. Description of the Related Art
Road vehicles are a primary form of transportation for millions of people. Usage of such vehicles is pervasive and includes leisure, business, sport, etc. Of paramount importance to occupants of vehicles is safety and comfort. To this end, numerous technological advances have been made including, for example, antilock braking systems (ABS), suspension control systems, throttle control systems, passenger restraint systems (e.g., airbags), traction control systems, navigation systems and the like.
As such, state-of-the-art vehicles are now equipped with a plurality of sensors, detectors and receivers configured for collecting a wide variety of information. However, this information is generally consumed by (for use by) the collecting vehicle. For example, a vehicle equipped with a traction control sensor uses the information collected by the sensor to adjust driving parameters (e.g., wheel torque) of the vehicle. Each subsequent vehicle passing over the same length of road may independently collect the same information and make similar adjustments to its driving parameters. As such, the collected information is not shared between vehicles.
Therefore, there is a need for a vehicular communications system allowing for communications between nearby vehicles.
The present invention generally provides a method and system for communicating information between vehicles and/or other communications systems, including the Internet.
One embodiment provides a method of communicating information between vehicles, comprising (a) receiving, at a vehicle-borne receiver, a first information token from a proximately located vehicle, wherein the first information token contains at least data content; (b) determining whether the first information token is private or public; (c) if the first information token is private, transmitting the first information token, from a vehicle-borne transmitter, without reading the data content of the first information token; and (d) if the first information token is public, reading the data content of the first information token.
Another embodiment provides a method of communicating information between vehicles, in which each vehicle comprises a vehicle-borne short-range receiver; and a vehicle-borne short-range transmitter. The method comprises (a) receiving, at the vehicle-borne short-range receiver, information tokens from a token transmitter within a predefined range without regard for an identity of the token transmitter and without regard for whether the received information tokens are addressed to a particular recipient; and (b) transmitting, from the vehicle-borne short-range transmitter, at least some of the information tokens to any token receiver within a predefined range without regard for whether the information tokens are addressed to a particular destination.
Yet another embodiment provides a vehicle-borne system, comprising a short range transmitter; a short-range receiver; and an onboard computer system communicably connected to the short-range transmitter and the short-range receiver. When executing a token processing program, the onboard computer system is configured to perform an operation comprising: (a) receiving, at the short-rage receiver, information tokens from a token transmitter within a predefined range without regard for an identity of the token transmitter and without regard for whether the received information tokens are addressed to a particular recipient; and (b) transmitting, from the short-range transmitter, at least some of the information tokens to any token receiver within a predefined range without regard for whether the information tokens are addressed to a particular destination.